International migration towards rural areas is increasingly present in Europe. Indeed, international immigrants have prevented (or slowed down) depopulation in rural areas (Bayona-i-Carrasco and Gil-Alonso, 2013; Camarero and Sampedro, 2019), and they have played a critical role in agricultural restructuring and economic transformation in rural societies (Woods, 2016), in a time when farming has ceased to be the main source of employment in many European rural economies (Boyle and Halfacree, 1998). In the move to address demographic challenges and shift from an exclusive reliance on agriculture, several economic activities (e.g. tourist-oriented activities) have taken on a heightened importance by making substantial contributions to the survival of many rural areas (Potter and Burney, 2002). Rural municipalities may, in fact, serve as laboratories since we will be able to watch the challenges and opportunities of mobility/migration processes  (Bell and Osti, 2010). These processes may be familiar in established urban gateways, but relatively new contexts of reception require closer attention in order to propitiate theoretical debates and empirical knowledge (McAreavey and Argent, 2018).
This session investigates the role of international immigrants in rural municipalities mainly in Europe, even if experiences elsewhere may be accepted. By analyzing different patterns of international migration (e.g. permanent immigration, dual residents, digital nomads), its objective is to make visible the variety and complexity of immigrant inflows into rural areas. It also intends to explore connections between local economies, entrepreneurship and lifestyle immigration by analyzing the potential of immigrants to contribute to economic local development (e.g. by creating new business) with the different types of capital they possess (i.e., economic, human and social capitals). In doing so, the session adds to the debate on the “new ruralities” (see, for instance, Bell and Osti, 2010; Mendoza, Morén-Alegret and McAreavey, 2020), from the experiences of international migration El formato de la sesión es tipo presentaciones. Las lenguas de trabajo son castellano e inglés.The session consists of presentations. The working languages are English and Spanish.

Cristóbal Mendoza (1); Raúl Lardiés (2)
(1) Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona / Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, (2) Universidad de Zaragoza

 
ID Abstract: